5 ms·

To be honest, it's not just a problem for a "normal person". I can easily admit that I could easily be bitten by something like this if one of my top 10 most us

by petetnt 11y ago

To be honest, it's not just a problem for a "normal person". I can easily admit that I could easily be bitten by something like this if one of my top 10 most used installers implemented an adware addition step. Sure, it's common sense to read what you are agreeing to and sometimes the installers are just made to deceive the end-user (I am looking at you, Flash updater). But generally you just don't have the time or don't want to read through the 7-8 pages of an installer for a program that you have already installed hundreds or thousands of times. It requires certain amount of trust and when the chain of trust is broken, I get bitten once, sure, but the program loses an user forever. The sad thing is that this isn't the case for the Grampa with 12 Ask.com toolbars installed.

libeclipse 11y ago
It takes about a minute, as opposed to 10 seconds, to install something if you skim each page for check boxes, as opposed to spamming next. If you can't spare that amount of time, then there's not much that anyone can do to help you.
- mc808 11y ago
  The bare minimum corrective action when you see "value added offers" in a Windows installer is to cancel the installation and then revert to the most recent restore point. There's no reason to assume the installer will honor your "no thanks" (as it often won't) or that it hasn't already taken the opportunity to hose your system (less likely but a definite possibility with the type of person who is willing to bundle malicious garbage in their installers for a buck).
  - lmm 11y ago
    You're thinking entirely the wrong way about that "type of person". Very few people think of themselves as evil; rather they will have some rationale for how what they're doing is OK, and very different from behaviour that from the outside seems to be the same thing. They will use any number of dark patterns to get you to misclick, but I've literally never seen such an installer not honour the "no thanks" if you can find it.
    - mc808 11y ago
      I was being a bit hyperbolic, but only a bit. I really don't trust someone who is willing to bundle up crap that obviously nobody wants, just to earn a few bucks when someone is tricked into installing it, but I can agree that it's a significant step from that to actually producing malware. Most reports of "no thanks" failing to work are probably due to third-party installers from who-knows-where, but I've seen at least a couple of cases (PSPad and CamStudio IIRC, could be mistaken) where it was attributed to a bug in the official bundle.
emilburzo 11y ago
https://ninite.com/ https://ninite.com/ is pretty nice (if they have the software you want to install)
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]

by petetnt 11y ago

libeclipse 11y ago

It takes about a minute, as opposed to 10 seconds, to install something if you skim each page for check boxes, as opposed to spamming next. If you can't spare that amount of time, then there's not much that anyone can do to help you.

mc808 11y ago
The bare minimum corrective action when you see "value added offers" in a Windows installer is to cancel the installation and then revert to the most recent restore point. There's no reason to assume the installer will honor your "no thanks" (as it often won't) or that it hasn't already taken the opportunity to hose your system (less likely but a definite possibility with the type of person who is willing to bundle malicious garbage in their installers for a buck).
- lmm 11y ago
  You're thinking entirely the wrong way about that "type of person". Very few people think of themselves as evil; rather they will have some rationale for how what they're doing is OK, and very different from behaviour that from the outside seems to be the same thing. They will use any number of dark patterns to get you to misclick, but I've literally never seen such an installer not honour the "no thanks" if you can find it.
  - mc808 11y ago
    I was being a bit hyperbolic, but only a bit. I really don't trust someone who is willing to bundle up crap that obviously nobody wants, just to earn a few bucks when someone is tricked into installing it, but I can agree that it's a significant step from that to actually producing malware. Most reports of "no thanks" failing to work are probably due to third-party installers from who-knows-where, but I've seen at least a couple of cases (PSPad and CamStudio IIRC, could be mistaken) where it was attributed to a bug in the official bundle.

emilburzo 11y ago

https://ninite.com/ https://ninite.com/ is pretty nice (if they have the software you want to install)

deleted 11y ago
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